It has been a week since Empires of the Ascended landed and the meta is starting to take shape. Following on from our previous aggro-style deck spotlights, here's a combo-control list using Watcher that is sure to leave your opponents obliterated!
The Combo
Different to Feel The Rush Atrocity decks of the past, this Lissandra Watcher deck aims to summon as many 8+ cost units to reduce Watcher's cost to 0, before attacking with it to obliterate the enemy's deck and win the next turn. When you summon 2 8+ cost units, Lissandra will create a Watcher in hand. Summoning 2 more will reduce its cost to 0, and this deck has a number of different ways to achieve this 0-cost Watcher:
- Lissandra generates a Frozen Thrall on her summon, which in turn summons a Frostguard Thrall 8 turns later. Running the Draklorn Inquisitor is an option if you want to go all-in on this game plan.
- Trundle has been chosen in this deck because, when summoned, he creates an Ice Pillar in hand. Ice Pillars are great for playing lots of 8-cost cards without actually paying 8 mana; so much so that we've included 3 Fading Memories to play on Ice Pillars and accelerate your game plan even faster! This way, even if you don't draw your Trundle, you can copy your opponent's Ice Pillars in the mirror!
- Spectral Matron is our final piece of the puzzle; giving you the ability to summon another Watcher before even playing 4 8-cost cards! Spectral Matron also lets you play around any of your opponent's removal because you will be able to follow this up with the 0-cost Watcher in hand - because Spectral Matron and the ephemeral copy of the Watcher count towards your Watcher's mana reduction.
After assembling our combo pieces: Lissandra, Trundle, Fading Memories and Spectral Matron; it's time to focus on the rest of the deck. This deck has some good techs for the control match-up, but there are some good anti-aggro options to help you in the early game too!
vs Control
Surprisingly, one of the biggest problems that this deck will face is having enough board space to be able to use Spectral Matron's summon ability on the Watcher. This is why we have swapped some of the board-based control options like Hapless Aristocrat and Vile Feast for spell-based removal such as Ice Shard and Withering Wail. For a similar reason, Draklorn Inquisitor is not included because it takes up two slots on the board.
Entreat is also useful because of this deck's reliance on its champions. Having 3 extra copies of your champions could make or break any mirror matches you have.
Atrocity is another option in this deck if your combo fails to materialize; use this on a Watcher that is doomed not to attack for a surprise finisher!
vs Aggro
Against aggressive decks, it is unlikely you will be able to play the Watcher at any point. Instead, these games will be won through healing and removal. Ice Shard and Withering Wail form the bulk of this deck's early game control. Games against Discard Aggro and TF Fizz's Elusives should be relatively straightforward with these cards, and you can use Blighted Ravine, The Box and Avalanche for more anti-aggro tools. Kindly Tavernkeeper is a classic in this deck, adding to other healing tools in Unspeakable Horror and Catalyst of Aeons.
How have you been faring against this deck on the ladder? Let us know in the comments!
Comments
I'm still on the search for the best version of Lissandra with Draklorn Inquisitor. I was lucky enough to make the Draklorn prismatic, and Kindly Tavernkeeper as well, so I want a deck with both of them in it (alongside a prismatic Liss, maybe? Need more essence for that...).
On the subject of your deck, I did not think of using Fading Memories to chain-summon a bunch of Ice Pillars. I also forgot The Box exists; I slotted in one copy of Passage Unearned for Sand Soldiers and the like, but haven't had a chance to utilize it too much.
https://twitter.com/SzerroLOR/status/1378638347397128193
Cool looking deck; not a pairing I would have expected. So the deck is mainly about softening up the enemy with non-combat damage before the larger Overwhelm units finish them off? You have no play until turn 3 at the earliest, which I find interesting as well. Edit: I suppose turn-2 could work, with spell mana.
All I need is one more copy of The Leviathan, so I might as well try it :)
I'll admit, I wasn't the first to use Fading Memories but I was surprised how well it works.
Also with cards like The Box and Passage Unearned, they both are really good but tend to brick your hand a lot, feeling like you spend the game with less cards than your opponent. All worth it for the blowout play though! 😉
Draklorn may work in a more midrange-y deck but it is a bit of a board hog